I actually found 3 possible dates of birth for today’s main character. Those 3 dates were February 13, 1824 or January 31, 1825, or February 9, 1825. I happen to think the last one is correct, and that one would make today one of those special bicentennial birthdays for this person.

I have actually written a story that included today’s birthday girl, but that post focused more on her husband and two other woman who were his wives. Today, I want to give more attention to the middle wife. Like the stories you hear about a middle child being the one who is often ignored, I think this woman’s story is pushed aside as being not as important. There are reasons why this is the case, perhaps because her life and her marriage turned out to be quite short.

Our German Family Tree says that Catherine Popp was either born on January 31, 1825 or February 9, 1825. The January 31st date of birth comes from a Popp Family Book that we have in our research library. The February 9th birthday comes from a few death records and a marriage record found in the books of Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. Findagrave.com also uses the February 9th date of birth on its site. The February 13, 1824 date of birth comes from the information for Catherine that is found on Family Search. It is probably because Catherine’s death records and a marriage record were written into the books of Concordia, Frohna by her husband, Rev. E.G.W. Keyl, that I figure that is the most reliable source. I know I would be in quite a bit of trouble if I forgot my wife’s birthday.

Catherine Popp was the daughter of Conrad and Anna (Horn) Popp. She was born in Bavaria. Catherine came to America aboard the ship, Clementine, in 1840. The passenger list shown below includes Catherine who was the youngest of the Popp passengers at the age of 16. These Popp’s listed Pittsburgh as their destination.

Another family found on this Clementine passenger list was the Lang family who were headed toward Missouri and settled near Friedenberg. Perhaps the Popp family changed their minds about where to settle as a result of getting to know the Lang’s while making that voyage. We know that Catherine’s father, Conrad Popp, died in 1842, and his death record is found in the books of Trinity Lutheran Church in Altenburg.

Catherine did not arrive in Perry County until after the 1840 census was taken, and she died prior to 1850, so we do not find her in any census records.

Let’s take a look at the man who would become her husband. His name was Rev. E.G.W. Keyl, who came to America with the Gesellschaft in 1839. Pastor Keyl was the first pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna. When he arrived in this country, he was already married to Amalia Walther, the sister of Rev. C.F.W. Walther. A previous post told the story of Amalia’s death that took place in St. Louis in 1842. She died shortly after giving birth to a child there. You can read about those circumstances in the post, Urgent Trip with Deadly Consequences. I will point out that when Amalia died, so did the child that was born a few days earlier, and the mother and child were buried in the same grave.

Rev. E.G.W. Keyl married Catherine Popp on January 29, 1843. The church marriage record is found in the books of Concordia Lutheran Church in Frohna, where Pastor Keyl served. That church record is pictured here.

We can also view this couple’s civil marriage record. I have included another marriage record in this image because Catherine’s brother, John Popp, married Anna Grother on February 26, 1843 about a month after Pastor Keyl married Catherine. It was Rev. Gotthold Heinrich Loeber who had these marriages recorded in the Perry County books since he was the pastor who conducted these two marriage ceremonies. The Popp/Grother marriage record is found in the books of Trinity, Altenburg.

A baby girl was born to this Keyl couple in 1844. That girl lived to adulthood. Then, a son named Benjamin was born on September 29, 1845. That child’s baptism record is displayed below.

However, Pastor Keyl would once again not only have another child die shortly after birth, but he lost another wife also. Catherine died on September 30th, and the baby Benjamin died on October 1st. The two death consecutive death records from Concordia’s books are shown here.

Catherine was only 20 years old when she died. As was previously done with Pastor Keyl’s first wife, Catherine was buried with her baby. Their gravestone is found in the Concordia Lutheran Cemetery in Frohna.

Rev. Keyl got married again in 1845. His third wife was Sophia Amalie Vogel. The church record for that event is pictured here.

A civil record for this wedding gives us the chance to read some information in English. This form enables us to read that it was once again Rev. Gotthold Heinrich Loeber who conducted this wedding ceremony.

The Keyl/Vogel couple would have a bunch of children. I found an Ancestry.com family tree that listed 12 children born to the pastor and his 3rd wife. Pastor Keyl would go on to serve a congregation near Milwaukee for a while, and then spent most of his ministry in the Baltimore area. He also became the President of the Eastern District of the synod that eventually became known as the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod. Pastor Keyl ended his career at a small congregation in Ohio.

In the process of researching this story, I found 3 photos of Sophia Keyl that have not shown up on this blog before, and I will take the opportunity to display those photos today.

In the early years of Pastor Keyl’s time in America, he experienced much tragedy. Four babies of his died shortly after birth, along with his first 2 wives. Then he went on to have quite a large family later in his life.

I happen to think that Pastor Keyl’s first wife gets a bit more attention because she was the sister of Rev. C.F.W. Walther. I also happen to think that his 3rd wife gets a bit more attention because she was the mother of so many children. Today’s birthday girl doesn’t get as much attention because she was only part of Pastor Keyl’s life for a mere 2 years. However, today, Catherine (Popp) Keyl gets our attention because she would be celebrating her bicentennial birthday.